Digital 2019 report: nearly four in ten internet users now using voice commands or voice search

DataReportal has released its annual report on the state of everything digital. It is a fantastic resource, with all sorts of statistics about Internet access and use across the world. You can access the data here, and you can read the analysis here.

One aspect of the report that caught my eye was the data on the use of voice (I.e., Alexa, Siri, etc…) for interacting with devices and/or browsing.

According to the authors of this report “roughly four in every ten internet users now us(e) voice commands or voice search every month”, signalling a “revolutionary change in the way people interact with connected content and devices.” The authors of the Digital 2019 report even predict that voice will drive “the next phase of internet growth”.

Voice control is particularly strong in populous countries such as India, China or Indonesia, which are very important markets for technology developers. The Asia-Pacific region contributed 55 percent of the annual growth in Internet users in the last year, and these countries are driving the growth in social media use, and e-commerce, too: 74% of the Internet users in India, 82% in China and 86% in Indonesia have purchased something online.

With all these in mind, DataReportal are predicting that the large technology companies will be focusing their attention on the development of very user-friendly voice interfaces particularly targeted at these large markets.

This is certainly a technology that marketers can not afford to ignore.